Wednesday, May 01, 2019

Test Mules

The ol' Raleigh Tamland Two Test Sled Of Doom
In the review gig I have found myself in over the last 14 years, I have had several "test mules" as they are called sometimes in the business. That term means that a certain vehicle is used as a base for testing various components or ideas. Those of you who have been around the blog here know some of these "mules" well. The one that I have probably used the longest is the old Gen 1 Fargo, but I have definitely used the Raleigh Tamland Two more frequently. In fact, it was noted by a reader here at one time that almost nothing on the bike is original anymore except the frame and fork. And now even the fork is gone.

Well, not "gone" as in "never coming back", it just isn't on the bike at the present time since I am testing the Fyxation carbon fork on it for a while. When that review is over I'll likely put the original fork back on there again, just because that's the way I originally had intended the bike to be. Raleigh asked if there should be a carbon fork originally and I said a steel fork would be better than some jackhammer cyclo cross fork, unless they were to develope a new fork for gravel. They said it would be easier to go with a steel fork, and so that's what they did. Anyway, some backstory for ya there.....

So, back to the whole test mule thing..... Now I am testing the aforementioned fork and some new tires. IRC Tires, to be exact. As with many companies, they are jumping into the gravel scene with tires meant for the purpose. The "Boken" tires I have on there are pretty smooth riding and fast, but not very grippy on mud, that's for sure! I'll have more on these later. But yeah, tires are a big thing as far as testing goes. I mean, I have no idea how many sets of tires have been on this bike, but there have been a LOT for sure. This has been a great bike for doing tire testing. Lots of clearance and room to slide in 650B stuff too. In that way, the Tamland was waaaay ahead of its time. 

The "new school" test mule.
But things get old, standards change, and this old Tamland is becoming less relevant as the days go by from the standpoint of testing stuff. No through axles, a straight steer tube fork, and not a lot of braze ons for accessories. It's time to move this one to the pasture. It's testing mule days are coming to a close.

 That said, I'll not be parting with this old bike, and I will still ride it when I have no testing going on, or if I just need to be on a steel rig that I like a lot. Plus, I cannot say there will ever be a bike that I had a hand in the design of again. That is a rare deal if you are not inside in a brand. I mean, I was just a shop mechanic that wrote a blog and here I was on the phone tellin' 'em what ta do. So, no....this bike, (which I purchased at employee discount from the shop where I work, by the way), isn't going anywhere soon.

The newer replacement "test mule" is already in service, and you've seen a lot of it too. It is the "Bubblegum Princess", or the Black Mountain Cycles MCD, (official name), and it has the through axles and braze ons, but......still has the 1 1/8th steer tube. So, I am in search of one more "test mule" bike, and there are a couple of things I want it to be before I pull the trigger. Through axles front and rear, of course, but I am thinking carbon fiber and........ Stay tuned. I've nothing on the radar for sure now, so the playing field is wide open at this point.

5 comments:

DT said...

I am assuming all of the test tires are set up tubeless? With all that switching on and off of tubeless tires, what is the best method for doing so? I am thinking of things like cleaning the rim (re-taping?), cleaning tire/bead, re-using sealant, etc...
I have only set up tubeless on new tires and wheels, and have not had to do any switching or swapping yet.

Guitar Ted said...

@dt- Most of the time, it is tubeless stuff, but not always. The Tioga Binary tires, for instance, are not tubeless rated.

When I have to swap out tires it is simpler if I use the same type of sealant all the time, that way any sealant residue that is still wet, (and it usually is) is not an issue. I also have the extra step many times of recovering sealant and re-using it from tire to tire. Sometimes a set of tires will stay on a rim long enough that the sealant runs dry, in which case it is an easy task to clean things up.

Careful removal/installation of tires usually means that taping is not necessary, but yes- sometimes I have to start from scratch with regard to that. I also have started to use new valve cores with every new set of tires. I found that using old cores for more than a few months generally was a bad idea as the seal on the cores can get crushed easily and many times sealant will degrade the rubber to the point that older cores leak excessively. This throws off results in testing, since part of how I evaluate a tire is how well it retains air pressure.

So, it is an involved process to be a reviewer of tires. That doesn't even consider taking notes, and weighing tires, measuring them, and writing the reviews up. Someday I'll be done doing this stuff and then I can just ride a set of tires until they wear out!

Bob said...

I think you should write a book on the birth of the gravel industry.

Guitar Ted said...

@Bob- Thank you for that suggestion. I've already been tasked to write a book about Trans Iowa. I think maybe I'll start there first then.

The "gravel industry" is perhaps too broad a subject for me to tackle as a first tome.

Ari said...

I would like to see one genral place where we can view all Trans Iowa images. Lots of the link don’t work anymore.